Month: July 2018

PROLOGUE:We are just back to a spot where there is wifi and cell service.We’ve been in a “remote” location for the past week and honestly, we have limited wifi/cell now as I write this post.Since we talked about this being our “30 Days in Alaska” trip, I decided to share our day by day adventures in that way.Also, with such limited wifi/cell, it’s impossible to post the kinds of videos, guide talks and highlights we’ve done before.We’ll update everything once we have strong wifi/cell, with some amazing video footage we’ve shot here so far, but for now, we’ll share some favorite pictures (hopefully) that dovetail with each part.Here goes….

Day 3:Intricate Bay trip begins

After a quick stay in Anchorage, we continued our journey with a flight in a 10 passenger single prop plane from Anchorage to a small native village, Iliamna (pop. 109), which sits on its namesake, Lake Iliamna.It is the largest lake in Alaska and the third largest lake entirely in the US with an average depth of 144’.However, we weren’t to our first fishing stop just yet.

We were met at the Iliamna Airport by Brian Harry, the owner/operator of the Intricate Bay Lodge (IBL) which would be our home for the next 7 days.He brought a large passenger van up to the door where we loaded all our gear and took a two mile drive to a lake, where our next transport was waiting…..not a boat, but……the “Dirty Girl”, officially known as a “de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Mk.I Beaver”…. yes, a float plane.

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I’m going to pause here, and do some reflecting…. Barb and I have talked about ultimately writing a book about our “River Ramble”.Neither of us are writers, as our high school english teacher Mrs. Seiter would definitely tell you, especially me.I mean, our senior paper which was our “final” and counted for much of our grade was to be on our favorite author…. you know…. Chaucer, Shakespere, etc….. So of course, I wrote mine on those famous authors Charles Shulz and Walt Kelly.It was titled “Peanuts, Pogo, People and Politics” and while I thought it was EPIC…. Mrs. Seiter disagreed.I did pass Senior english, but barely.The point of all this is, after this last week, we’re now committed to writing a book about this adventure and as I write this post, I’m finding myself starting to write it….. SO…. since this is a blog and not a novel, I’m going to try and hold back a bit…. ok…. a lot.Now back to our abbreviated blog stories!

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We flew over Lake Iliamna, landed in Intricate Bay and taxied to this beautiful lodge where we were met by the entire staff;we felt pretty special (and relieved we’d survived our first float plane ride).After settling in, we threw on our waders, headed back to the dock, jumped in jet boats, and headed for the Copper River, one of our Trout Unlimited Top 100 Trout Streams rivers.(Note to self, brevity in blogs… you can do it!). The ride to the river was an experience that can only be told in video, so stay tuned for later (see Prologue).

After landing a few nice rainbows, our guide for the day, Monte, took us to a great looking hole and just as we were about to jump out of the boat and start fishing…. BEAR!Yes, a young brown bear walked up along the bank, staring down into the river exactly where we were going to cast and began searching for fish.Ultimately, he dove into the river, ran up and down the “run” we were going to fish, tried unsuccessfully to get a fish, decided to “snorkel” for fish (yes, it’s a real thing they do, snorkeling for fish) and then run over onto the same gravel bar where we’d docked our boat, at which point Monte grabs his bear spray and begins to scream at the bear.We learn over the course of the week, step 1, scream…. step 2, spray with bear spray…. step three, pull gun.Honestly, step 1 did the trick all but one time when step 2 was deployed, and never step three, but it was always an option as each guide was always “carrying”. I share all this now, so that in later days writings, I’ll just say “bear experience” to encapsulate these moments.Bottom line of the day:We checked off our 96th river in our quest to fish the Top 100 Trout Streams in the US.

After more fish, we headed back to the lodge for dinner.Thank goodness they had a keg of Alaskan Amber, we needed it.We also got our itinerary for the next day after dinner, written on the chalk board….7am breakfast, 8am shove off, Copper River, guide… Chace.

Day 4:More Copper River adventures (pic 1)

We had a full day on the Copper River with Chace, who was the “head guide” at IBL.Again, we had this amazing jet boat ride to get to and then up the Copper River, having a mama duck fly directly in front of our boat part of the way.We learned that the boat, which was flying upriver, came near her babies and she flies away in front of the boat to lead us away from them.If only she’d known we were going fishing she could have chilled out instead of flying like crazy ahead of us.

The day was much like Day 3’s fishing; we’d move upstream finding great “runs” to fish, hook into some nice rainbows and move.It was all using the jet boat to move from spot to spot, we never fished from the boat, we always got out and waded a section of the river.Which lead us to another “bear experience” here and there.Actually, on both day 3 and 4 we saw 8 bears along and in the river.We were fishing a “run” when Chace said “turn around”.When we did, we saw this huge bear “snorkeling” down the channel right behind us.I’ll never say we got “used” to being in such close proximity to bears (within 10-20 yards), but we’d come to realize that with hundreds of thousands of sockeye salmon in all the rivers in the area, they weren’t really the least bit interested in us, unless of course we were in their favorite fishing hole (see Day 3 above).

At the end of the day, we decided we’d like to try fishing for some of the sockeye salmon that everyone else was actually fishing for…. as we’d been targeting rainbows all day.You really aren’t technically “fishing” for sockeye as the guides called it “flossing”. Essentially, you’re throwing out a line with a small fly/hook on the line and dragging it through a mass of sockeye just holding in a spot.Eventually, the line will go into….. wait…. brevity Tom…. write more in a book…. onward.

Day 5:Moraine Creek (pic 2)

All of our guides asked “Why isn’t the Moraine on the list?”Truly, I don’t know why.I think it was in the original 1999 version of the book, but for some reason, not the 2013 version we are following.In any event, the “Dirty Girl” landed in a spot called “Pothole” where we carried rafts, paddles, fishing gear, dry bags, lunch bags and more up a ridge where we staged everything before going back down the ridge and into Moraine Creek.Whew!

This day was pretty much like the other days, so far, except for two things:we were in a raft floating downstream and…. the “W” was happening.The “W” was howling at a steady 30mph with gusts to 40+.Our guides were fighting it all day to keep us in good drifts.Oh, and I didn’t mention it was raining and a windchill that was ridiculous with that much “W”.All that said, we caught lots of gorgeous rainbows, had a bear encounter that was a bit too close, but ultimately it only lead to “step 1”, although “step 2” was out and ready.I think our guide Chace was ready for a massage after rowing us down the Moraine.Everyone was exhausted as we awaited the “DG” to come back and pick us up for the trip home.It was fun seeing her land directly ON Moraine Creek, then “sail” back down to pick us up.It’s one thing watching drift boats and rafts coming downstream in the current toward you, quite another seeing a float plane doing it.

Day 6:Alagnak River. Battle Creek. Moraine Creek and HOME! (pic 3)

We could easily write a short novel about day 6.Let me try and summarize it.From IBL, we were the first to even fish the Alagnakthis year and probably ever, but T-Bird and the “DG” got us there along with our guide Hayden after we’d dropped off two other guests and new friends from Italy, Ferdinado and Eleonora, at the Moraine.However, when we landed in Kukaklek Lake,whose outflow is the Alagnak River, one of the TU Top 100 trout streams, T-Bird said “We may have to fly out of here soon.If the waves on the lake get too high, we’ll be stuck here”.

OK…. no pressure…. we’re wading downstream into the Alagnak River, our pilot has warned us that we may have to leave at a moment’s notice…. and we HAVE to at least get a fish out of this TU Top 100 trout stream.In 15 minutes, swinging a Dali Lama stream, tug…. tug…. tug…. SET!Got’em!We netted a small rainbow, documented the catch and then, hightailed it back to the “DG” to get out…. mission accomplished.

So, with all this excitement, dropping off a group, then flying to the Kukaklek, snaring a rainbow from the Alagnak and racing upstream back to the float plane, it was only about 10am. Where to next?We debated a lot, and for the sake of time, we decided to head to Battle Creek and in this case, it was the first time this season that anyone from IBL had been to Battle Creek.We fly in, land and begin our taxi toward the mouth of the river and find ourselves in shallow water until ultimately, the “DG” runs aground and cannot move.It was the first trip of the season to this spot and the river channel had moved…. as it turned out it was about 40 yards away.

Long story short (I can do this), we fished Battle Creek, I caught the biggest rainbow of our time there (25” and VERY fat), we fished about two hours, came back to a “beached” boat and found out that we didn’t have enough gas to make it back to the lodge.T-Bird calls the lodge on a sat-phone, finally gets hold of Mark to bring us gas, but Mark hasn’t been to this location, so we’ll need to fly to the Moraine pickup spot.At this point Barb politely asks “Do we have enough gas to get there?”After assurances from T-Bird, the adventure continued.

We now had to move…aka… PULL the “DG” about 40 yards across shallow water, literally dragging it over the gravel in about a foot or two of water to get it to the new river channel so we could take off.We landed at our Moraine River takeout spot, Mark landed soon after, we loaded about 15 gallons of fuel into the “DG” and with perfect timing, here comes Ferdinando and Eleonora with their guide Chandler.We grab them and head back to the lodge.Again…. WHEW!But Bottom Line:We crossed off the Alagnak River…. we are now at 97 of the TU Top 100 Trout Streams…. and most importantly, we’d had the most adventurous day being first to the Alagnak AND Battle Creek.

Our day was supposed to have been a nice, short float plane ride to the Gibraltar River for fishing.However, when we flew over, the Iliamna Lake was getting swells that caused T-Bird to go into “Plan B”, the Moraine.When we got to the Moraine, the weather actually worsened to the point we couldn’t land there either, and T-Bird had to go to IFL navigation…. “I Follow River”.We got an amusement park ride at this point as T-Bird literally didn’t just follow the river but flew low over it, below the worsening cloud cover, weaving and banking left and right until we were able to get some clearing.We then went to Plan C, back to Battle Creek.This was good, because now that we did our “recon” the day prior, we knew where the channel was and easily made it to the river and had 2 hours of great fishing.

When the weather cleared a bit, we got back in the “DG” and flew over to the Moraine and repeated what we did on Day 5, albeit with no rain and slightly less wind.We were fishing all day with Chandler who it turned out worked in Bozeman for a time at Yellow Dog Fly Fishing as well as at one of our favorite fly shops in Livingston, Sweetwater Fly Shop.Great day and a great, uneventful ride back to IBL.

Day 8:Gibraltar River… YES! (pic 5)

To get to the Gibraltar, we ferried over in IBL’s “big” boat, towing a smaller jet boat behind.We beached the big boat, got in the jet boat and headed upstream to fish.We’d fished a few holes, caught a few nice bows and lots of smaller ones when Chace, our guide, decided he’d walk the boat downstream and let Barb “nymph” a bead through a run from the boat.I was to follow down, wading and swinging a leech.The picture of Barb drifting down with Chace guiding her was too priceless not to capture, so, I got out the camera and took a picture.I put the camera away, took my rod back to cast and proceeded to fall into the Gibraltar.

The Gibraltar is not a big river, in fact, where I fell in, I’m guessing its only about 20-25’ across.When I fell into the river, I immediately did what you’re supposed to do and got my feet downstream.Barb and Chace turned and saw me, so Chace pulled Barb to shore and started up to help me.However, this one day I had forgotten my wading belt. Unfortunately, this allowed the river to completely fill my waders with water and begin pushing me downstream.I dug my heels in, but I was no match for the river.Little did we know at first, I was really in a bad spot, unable to move at all and ready to head downstream weighing about 400 pounds with water-filled waders.Chace comes and I grab hold of his legs.I am in the river, arms wrapped around him as he literally drags closer to the bank.We had to unbuckle my waders to get the water out of them to get me “light” enough to continue pulling.When he finally had me beached, I stood up, stripped down to my skivvies, and contemplated what’s next.We were a few miles upstream, there is no one around anywhere, and I’m standing nearly naked on a gravel bar.Of course, both Chase AND Barb wanted pictures of me now….. LOL!

Chace went downstream to the big boat to get another rod since I’d lost mine in the river.Luckily Monte had an extra fleece, which while two sizes too small, I managed to fit over my head and was thankful to have it and Chace had an extra pair of socks which helped me to stay warmer.I pulled on my base layer pants, which were still soaked and cold, put on my waders and boots, and we continued to fish, of course.

Not only did we continue to fish, Barb had an over 30 fish day and I caught some massive rainbows.We lunched on the banks of the river;told stories and laughed hard. At the end of the day, standing in the middle of the river in about 3.5 feet of water, Barb and I had a double of beautiful rainbows.What a way to finish the day.

Retrospect is a wonderful thing.At the time of the fall, I wasn’t worried, I figured that I had Chace, Barb and a boat downstream of me and I’m a good swimmer.However, I’d never swam as a 400 pound guy, wearing a water sock set of waders in fast moving water; it was like having bricks tied to my feet.As I reflected on it, and as Chace and Clair told me later, I was in serious danger in that moment.There is a reason you always wear a wading belt.I’d simply forgotten mine at the lodge and assumed I could make it that day.After I had the “accident” I took the belt off my fishing pants I’d been wearing beneath my waders and securely pulled it tight around my waders.

Day 9:Heading Back to Anchorage

After saying goodbye to all the IBL staff, we all got back on the “DG”, flew to Iliamna, unloaded then reloaded for our flight back to Anchorage.At this point, we said goodbye to our 7 new friends we’d shared the week with at IBL: Arturo, Arturo, Jr., and Raquel (Mexico);Ferdinando and Eleonora (Italy); Hadley (NC) and his son, Sherwood (San Francisco). It was an experience we shared and we’ll all never forget… the “Alaska Experience” as we’d heard it said… but more on that in another post.For now, it’s time to continue our “30 Days in Alaska” and….

Our trip from Bozeman to Anchorage via Seattle on Day 1 of our trip went off without a hitch.Flights on time…. clear skies… soft landings… and spectacular views, especially as we approached Anchorage (pic 1).We even got a glimpse of Denali in the distance.What was amazing is at 10:30pm, when we arrived at our hotel, it was still daylight, and stayed that way until 11pm.

We planned Day 2 of our Alaska adventure as a “get acclimated” day in Anchorage.Travel days when you fly for 6 hours and have a 3 hour connection in Seattle are exhausting…. not to mention the two hour time difference from Bozeman.We also needed to pick up a few things and headed to a local store to grab some essentials like waterproofing spray for our boots and head nets for mosquitos and no-see-ems (pic 2).

After waterproofing our hiking boots (we’re expecting a bit… no no… a lot of rain) we headed to downtown Anchorage for a trolley tour and some sightseeing.The trolley tour was actually a hoot.Our guide/driver was a former Miss Anchorage and had her own live variety show in Anchorage.She also won $10,000 from America’s Funniest Videos a few years back.We learned a lot about Anchorage and laughed a lot!We enjoyed the “forecast” board (pic 3)we encountered highlighting a sunny day for 18 hours!This was a ‘hot” day for Anchorage, but again, we’ve looked at the forecast and have our rain gear ready.

Anchorage bills itself as the “Air Crossroads of the World” as you can see from their sign downtown (pic 4).It also boasts the largest concentration of single engine aircraft in the world.We found out that Anchorage high school students actually study flying starting at 14, do their first solo flights at 16 and by 18 are carrying passengers.Day 3 is going to find us on both a single engine plane and a float plane as well.We’ll share more about that experience next week.

When we asked people where we should eat in Anchorage, the one recommendation that kept coming up time after time was the Moose’s Tooth Pub and Pizzeria…. so off to dinner we went!They brew their own beer under the Broken Tooth Brewing label (pic 5)…. and of course, we sampled some of their selections.We can now add our names to the chorus who recommend this place for beer and pizza.

We walked over 4 miles on Day 2 getting to know Anchorage…. and walking off dinner.Ready for a good night’s sleep and the adventures that await on Day 3…. Lake Illiamna Air Taxi here we come!

When we started out on this three year “River Ramble” to fish the Trout Unlimited’s Guide to America’s Top 100 Trout Streams, we knew we were saving the five rivers in Alaska for last.The other 95 were “easy” in comparison, as we were able to drive to every one of them.Alaska posed a bit of a different problem as you can see from our cover photo for this post.We have to fly, on float planes, to get to several of these last 5 rivers.So on Friday (July 20), instead of firing up the SaraLinda and heading out, we are headed to Bozeman-Yellowstone International Airport and heading north for “30 Days in Alaska”.

As we’ve been planning our trip, we got out the maps to see just exactly where we’re going.Alaska is our largest state in land mass and our most sparsely populated.As you can see from the map (pic 1 above), it’s bordered by two Canadian provinces to the east (British Columbia & The Yukon), the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Pacific Ocean to the south, and to the west, it shares a maritime border in the Bering Sea with Russia.Remote seems an appropriate description.But it’s also the home of our highest peak, Denali, and some of the most breathtaking scenery and wildlife on the planet.While it’s definitely a fishing destination of anglers around the world, “It’s Not About the Fish” applies here as well.

We’re really breaking up our time in Alaska into 4 segments (pic 2 above), each with its own unique character.After a short stop in Anchorage, we’re off to Intricate Bay on Lake Illiamna for a week of fishing in which we’ll check off two of the five rivers, the Alagnak and the Copper.But just to get to fish these two rivers, it requires a “normal” plane ride from Anchorage to Illiamna airport followed by a float plane (pic 3) to get to our lodge at Intricate Bay.Fishing the Copper River will be easy as the lodge is located near where the Copper flows into Lake Illiamna.The Alagnak is more of a challenge… aka… a float plane once again to get there.You’ll also notice on the picture, Katmai National Park and Preserve (Brooks Falls in particular, see pic 4), which we’ve been told is a “must see”, along with yet another float plane trip to get there.You can see why the SaraLinda just wasn’t an option.

Segment two is all about sightseeing (along with a little fishing of course) along the road between Cooper Landing and Denali National Park and Preserve.After we get back from the Katmai/Lake Illiamna area, we’re back to Anchorage, then driving down to Cooper Landing to fish the Russian River (one of the Alaska 5) and do some sightseeing in Seward. Then it’s back through Anchorage and up to Talkeetna, which began as an Alaska Railroad town.It’s also a “basecamp” area for exploring Denail and fishing a creek that was recommended to us, Montana Creek.Yes, we’re definitely fishing MORE than just the five TU Top 100 trout streams in AK. Then we’re off to Denali National Park and Preserve for a full day of sightseeing.We’re keeping our fingers crossed the weather will be good and we can actually SEE the mountaintop.After Denail, it’s back to Anchorage for…..

…. Segment three, which requires a flight from Anchorage to the small town of Bethel, another flight to the even smaller native village of Quinhagak and finally, a 30 minute boat ride up the Kanektok River to our next basecamp at Alaska West (pic 5).So far, we’ll have been staying in a room, with four solid walls, but not at Alaska West.Here, we are staying in “tents”, with floors, but basically canvas stretched over a frame that has two single beds inside, a lantern and that’s about it.The bathrooms are “out houses” strategically located around the tent sites.There is a dining tent, a drying tent (for waders/boots), a lounge tent and a shower tent.You can see why they call it a “Tent Camp”… LOL.This is truly an Alaska bush experience, at least as “bush” as we’re willing to try. However, the camp is located directly on the Kanektok River which means, no float planes, just getting into jet boats and moving to various sections of the Kanektok, which is the only river we’ll fish this week.

Segment four begins when we boat/fly back from Alaska West to Anchorage.We’ll meet up at the airport with dear friend James Kelley who is coming to Alaska to fish with us for a week on the Kenai Peninsula.Once we grab our gear from baggage claim, we’re headed back to Cooper Landing to fish the Russian and Kenai Rivers, both on the TU Top 100 list.We’ll be floating through the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge fishing the Kenai and hiking along the Russian River. We’re staying in Cooper Landing in cabins along the Kenai River and enjoying all the “fishing, food, friends and fun” we can.

After this segment, we head back to Anchorage to catch flights back to Bozeman (Nashville in James case).Our “30 Days in Alaska” will have been complete.However, along the way, we plan to “Blog” on our River Ramble site and/or update our Instagram feed every day (well, at least every day where we have internet access).We hope you’ll follow along with us on our journey to Alaska.

As I was on a 4th of July pilgrimage to find salmon flies along the Madison, I made a customary stop in West Yellowstone at Blue Ribbon Flies where a sign greeted me indicating “fishing reports” for area streams. As you can see by the first image in the highlight video above, the good folks at Blue Ribbon Flies have a great sense of humor in their fishing reports…. yet…. if you read what they’ve said, they are spot on. Indeed, there was no “wait” anymore on the Madison, it was full on salmon fly, stone fly, PMD, Yellow Sallie and caddis dry fly fishing. As I walked back to the Suby, after catching a nice “walk off” rainbow, I stripped off my waders only to find THREE salmon flies INSIDE my waders with me! Honestly, I didn’t even venture to count all the caddis, PMDs, golden stones and Sallies who’d found their way into the car. Thick doesn’t begin to describe how much bug activity was happening on the river…. but I digress here, this post isn’t about fishing, but about the interesting, unique, funny, sometimes “salty”, significant and entertaining signs we saw along the way. Seeing the “Fishing Report” sign at BRF simply reminded me that this was a post you all might enjoy.

Seems logical to begin with some great “Welcome” signs we encountered. Each community we visited had the customary welcome sign, but standouts include the water town in Cotter (AK), the iconic Roosevelt Arch (Yellowstone NP), the “Best Water on Earth” in Dunsmuir (CA), the “Longest Main Street in America” in Island Park (ID), “Trout Town USA” Roscoe (NY) and the signs going into and leaving the Village of Mammoth. Of course, the “Welcome” into our newly adopted home state of Montana is great with friends, but the welcome to Ennis is priceless, they have their priorities straight. Speaking of priorities straight, checkout the Craig (MT) sign…. it’s really just a fishing access sign, but really, that’s pretty much all Craig (MT) is….. fishing! And who could forget our “welcomes” to certain lodging and events like the “Old Hookers” guest house or the Clinton (MT) annual “Testicle Festival”.

In traversing the country via the SaraLinda, we also found time to traverse a few trails, which without signs would have left you lost in vast places like the Pacific Crest Trail, Appalachian Trail, or even creek and ridge trails that connect to such bigger, more well know trails. Barb did survive our hike to the Panther Creek Trail, but just barely as you can see.

Pure “informational” signs also caught our attention whether it was announcing certain historic “pools”, the Maine tradition of using old saw blades as signs and one ironic sign from a bookstore in NH. Written in stone was “NOTHING IS WRITTEN IN STONE”. Still makes me laugh!

Of course, the eateries we encountered had their fair share of interesting signs (and names). We had “Love Muffins” in Moab (UT), “SpikeBurgers” in Michigan, enjoyed “Fry Fishing” in Livingston (MT), “groovy” BBQ in Marble (CO), made a “Frostop” in Ashton (ID), found a “Cheese Corner” in where else but Wisconsin, giant cinnamon rolls at “Wheat Montana” and joined the “Breakfast Club” in Mammoth (CA) who was most welcoming to our fishing adventure. We’re afraid to speak of what happens at the Thunderbird Inn, or even where it is….

Couldn’t resist adding the “directional” category of signs. The first one that caught our attention was a simple pair of arrows, pointing in the same direction we encountered at a very tight mountain curve along Cedar Run in PA. We were never really sure what they were thinking but we navigated the curve twice.

Fly fishing in the mountains, we encountered “steep grade” signs frequently…. 6% grade next 2 miles, etc….. until we started down the East Portal River Access in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison…. 16% seriously? YES!!! YIKES!!!

On a “lighter” note, our Upper Falls view was a bit scary, the folks at Bethel Woods, where the Woodstock Festival occurred, displayed their sense of humor on their roadsigns…. and slightly associated with Woodstock was the interstate sign pointing the way to “Weed”.

The drift boats we took down the streams were often adorned with signs and stickers that made them unique. Four drift boats that were painted stood out… Rocky Top Anglers, which while an advertisement for the guide service, was unique in its incorporation of Tennessee filled with brown trout spots… the “Casting for Recovery” drift boat with its message and mission of hope…. the “Alumaweld Boat” of Griff Marshall, well built indeed…. but taking the cake was Merritt Harris’ drift boat which had no writing on it, just spots. Sometimes, the most subtle signs say the most… we caught a LOT of big fish with Merritt.

And then the stickers…. state bird of Michigan? A reminder “Don’t Suck”. And one of my favorites, a breakdown regarding “How Badass are You?” Barb and I have enjoyed every one of these lengths. (NOTE: you may have to pause the video on this one to read it all…. LOL)

To be honest, the “sign” idea started with bathroom signs in fly shops. We found some very unique ones along the way, including some that are a bit more “salty”….. including the “Fish Naked” series… some that spoke to why you were in the bathroom (hiccup… beer!)… and some that were instructive as to smoking and “how to”….. “Gentlemen”….”Ladies”.

Finally, “WARNING”!!! Sometimes I wonder why on earth we fly fish given all the warning signs we encounter. It turns out that the saying “Fish only live in beautiful places”, while so true, could also be written as “Fish, dangerous animals, rattlesnakes and raging rivers coexist in beautiful places”. We encountered these “warning” signs everywhere… making us aware of the dangers of moose, bison, bears, hiking, swift water and weather. My favorite is still “Grizzly Bear Area, Special Rules Apply”…. yeah… like STAY AWAY!

We really hope you enjoy our “signs” as much as we have. Putting this together, I kept humming the Five Man Electrical Band’s “Sign” song. However, not having the rights to use it, I created an original tune…. Ramble On!

OK…. so right up front let me say, I have a favorite fishing buddy, in case you’ve not noticed already. We certainly didn’t know we were going to be fishing buddies when we met. Our desires to fish together didn’t lead us to get married almost 46 years ago. It is true that once our daughters ended up in different cities well over a decade ago, it caused Barb to decide that if she were to hang out with Chris (our now son-in-law), Krista and me in the Tetons, she’d need to learn to fish, since she’d lost her “hang out on the bank” partner in Kelly. However, one never knows how a shared interest in fishing might translate into “fishing buddy” status…. but of course, you know how it turned out.

Many of Barb’s friends and family questioned her sanity when she agreed to go on our River Ramble together. I mean, it’s one thing to fish together a few times a year with family, but quite another to sell your home, live in a 200 sq.ft. RV (“SaraLinda“) and travel the country fishing for 10 months a year for two years…. but that’s exactly what we did. And… we’re still married…. and are best fishing buds!

Now I’m not saying one needs to marry one’s fishing buddy – or – that one’s best fishing buddy should be one’s spouse. For some, if not many, it’s a pursuit that doesn’t necessarily fit, but when it does…. it’s very very special! When you watch the “Fishing Buddies” video above, you’ll see a pic of a couple we met along the Madison River in October 2016. I wish I could remember both of their names, but what I do remember is that he told us everyone just calls him “Coach”. They come to Yellowstone each October for the entire month to fish the Madison. They are both in their 70’s and they’ve been married longer than Barb and me. Needless to say, we aspire to still be fishing the Madison each October for the run of big browns from Hegben Lake, well into our 70’s and beyond like Coach and his wife.

The thing to recognize in this is…. it isn’t because we’re married that we’re fishing buddies, but it’s that we actually SHARE some important factors in what makes good fishing buddies. Factors like:

Do you like to fish from sunup to sundown and beyond…. or….. do you enjoy the frequent respite for an afternoon siesta, a good meal and/or a few cold adult beverages?

Do you like to fish for a few “big” fish…. or…. catch as many fish as you possibly can?

Are you a dry fly only aficionado…. or…. a use whatever method works kind of angler?

Are you more into wading streams…. or fishing out of a drift boat/raft?

Are you into small streams… or…. big rivers?

Do you like to fish salt water…. or…. fresh water?

Are you partial to moving water…. or…. still water?

I’m sure the list could go on and on, and welcome feedback from readers on the list for sure, but I think you get the gist of things. The best kinds of fishing buddies are those with which you share the most factors.

The tag line of our River Ramble blog really tells you a lot about us…. “Fly Fishing, Food, Friends and Fun”. We are not the sunup to sundown types, although we’ve done it MANY times… I mean, of course “It’s Not About the Fish” ALL the time…. but there are days when all the fly fishing stars align and you just don’t want to leave the water. We’re always prepared for such days. We always pack enough drinks and extra sandwiches “just in case” one such day reveals itself…. so it’s PB&J for lunch, dinner and the moonlight snack driving back to the SaraLinda. That said, if we know a great band is playing nearby, or friends are coming in that day… we’ll always choose to leave the river.

As for the fishing itself, we’re “opportunists” for sure. We’ll fish dry flies, wet flies, nymphs, streamers whatever fly fishing tackle is working best. Of course, whenever we can fish dries, it’s by far the most fun, watching the fish rise and take the fly from the surface…. instead of watching a strike indicator jiggle or pop beneath the surface…. or even swinging/stripping wet flies and streamers. But in the end, we’re definitely “opportunists”. Oh, and so far, we are moving, fresh water folks…. but we know that will be enhanced to include still water (ponds, lakes) and saltwater in our future. And we’ve found, we like to catch fish, big and small, so we’re not too hung up on the “how many” fish we catch anymore. We’ve heard anglers go through this as they grow more experienced… first, it’s catch a lot, then catch the big ones, then its “special” ones, etc…. but we find that fishing is an excuse to get outside, enjoy nature, share time with each other and friends, meet new people, enjoy new places… you know….

We’re in the “It’s Not About the Fish” group. We want our guides to put us on fish if possible, but we also want them to make sure to point out geological sites, historical artifacts, eagles, osprey and of course, animals along our journeys. We always ask them about local beers, places to eat and live music nearby so we can enjoy the community surrounding these beautiful streams.

As you watch the “Fishing Buddies” video above, you’ll see images of some of our fishing buddies including family members (and family member’s best buds), Sue Doss & Dud Lutton (Bozeman), Bill McCauslen & Ron Reed (Austin) and two who’ve been with me and with us more than anyone, James Kelley (Nashville) and Dan McCormack (Houston). In addition to the annual trips James, Dan and I have taken for many years now, they’ve also joined Barb and me on our Ramble stops in New York, Colorado, Texas, Montana, Wyoming, Utah (“The Utah Four“) and Tennessee. While my counting may be a bit off, I list over 25 rivers now we’ve fished together…. and we’re still planning more, including Alaska.

I’d be remiss if I also didn’t mention a few other images you’ll see in the video, “Fishing Buddies”. We started out our Ramble on the Guadalupe, with James and Dan of course… but also with guides, Alvin Dedeaux and JT Van Zandt, who it turns out, are fishing buddies from way back. Watch their “Guadalupe Guide Talk” and you’ll see and hear their stories which are a hoot! Andy Wagner befriended us along the way, and took us to “The Shanty” along Penns Creek (PA) to meet one of his “buddies”, Jeff Zim, one of a group of “buddies” affectionately called “The Shanty Posse”. And not to be missed, our four legged furry friends (“Fly Dogs” & “Fly Dogs 2“)who accompanied us fishing, Solomon (Sue & Dud’s), Brookie (Julie Szur, our guide in Slate Run, PA), Sammy (Chris Taylor, our guide on the San Juan) and Desie (Roger & Mary Nelson, Nelson’s Spring Creek (MT)).